Self-fastening seal



UNITE STATES oEAELEs FRANCIS WHALEY PATENT 7 OFFICE.

SELF-FASTENING SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 367,877, dated August 9, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES FRANCIS WHALEY and JOHN 1VIORTIMERFOREST, both citizens of the United States, both residing at 5 St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota. have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Fastening Seals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of selffastening seals employed by railway, express, freight, and other similar companies or corporations to secure cars, chests, trunks, and

other receptacles for goods and freight, which are secured by a seal that must be broken to release the car or other receptacles; and it consists of a glassdisk having airirregularshaped internal cavity into which the barbed ends of a shackle wire may be readily insorted, but from which said shacklewire cannot.

be withdrawn or removed without breaking theglass disk, the retaining portions of the glass disk being weakened in their construction so as to be easily frangible, as hereinafter set forth and described, and specifically pointed out in theclaim. i The glass disk may be made of any form or size and of any required thickness, but Ihave shown in the drawings an approved form.

Figure 1 represents a sectional front view, and Fig. 2 a sideview, of the disk with the shackle-wire inserted therein. Fig. 3 is a view of the shackle'wire detached, and Fig. 4 is a front view of oneot' the diskswithout the shackle-wire. Fig. 5 is a plan view of Appllcation filed April 5, 1887. Serial No. 233.793. (No model.)

ties in the disk, and by spreading outward into the parts a will effectually prevent the shacklefastening of the car or other receptacle for the goods or freight, through which the sh acklewire B is inserted before being inserted into the disk, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

That part of the disk which forms the tongues a in the cavities is weakened by having slits a formed at their sides, so that the tongues c are detached from the main part of the disk, except at the rear part, a. The tongue a is thus greatly weakened and rendered more easily breakable, so that any attempt to tamper with the lock in the effort to remove the shackle-wire without breaking the seal will result in the certain breakage of the disk.

Under some circumstances it may be found advantageous to employ two of the disks A, one on each end of the shacklc-wire B, in which case each disk will need but one of the cavities a a but generally one disk will be used with two of the cavities, as in the drawings.

The use of two disks instead of one would be 7 5 the equivalent of our invent-ion,and would accomplish'the same results in substantially the same manner.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is- A seal for cars and other receptacles, or the fastenings thereof, consisting of a disk orplate of glass or other breakable substance, provided with irregular-shaped cavities a a having weakening slits a in combination with S5 shackle wire B, having barbed ends (Z, adapted to be inserted into said cavities, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing 0 witnesses.

CHARLES FRANCIS WHALEX. JOHN MOWIlllER- FOREST. itnesses:

F. C. STEWAED, GEO. W. KEELEE. 

